The National Bank of Ukraine was named the finest central bank for the year 2022 on March 13 by the famous British journal Central Banking. Despite severe shocks, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) preserved macroeconomic and financial stability, according to Central Banking. The list of NBU accomplishments during the invasion by the Russians is tremendous. Despite Russian armies attacking Kyiv and millions of Ukrainians fleeing to the EU, the Ukrainian National Bank managed to survive the panic and maintain control of the national currency. Nonetheless, the NBU managed to fulfil all of its obligations and keep the country’s banking system operational despite the fact that the economy had essentially stopped. The NBU was fortunate to be competent enough to resist the shock of the war, making the Ukrainian banking reform one of the few successful ones in the history of the nation.
Yet, in the event that such a structure was successful, the chairman of the NBU would have had to resign and leave Ukraine. The man now speaks to attorneys preparing for court criminal proceedings rather than giving interviews to press celebrating the success of his institution on the same day that a suspicious criminal case against him was filed.
Even before the war, Kyryl Shevchenko was nominated to his position by the Ukrainian president despite worries that, unlike his predecessor Yakiv Smoliy, he would consent to boost Hryvnia printing to fulfil the government’s expanding financial demands. Shevchenko resisted political pressure and maintained control over the national currency, inflation, and banking system. When the conflict began, he was able to maintain this control and surf through the storm thanks to a variety of various instruments. Yet, political pressure even increased after Russians left Kiev, and during the course of the summer, the country seemed to be returning to virtually normal. He was compelled to leave his position in October, just before a criminal investigation could begin. The case was brought out of retirement as a warning to leave the country if you don’t want to go to jail because it was based on well-known information that was in the media long before Shevchenko was named head of the NBU. Give the position to someone who the authorities, or more specifically, A. Yermak, the head of the presidential administration, likes more. Everyone who has been following Ukrainian politics knows that Yermak has consolidated all of the power in his hands during the past two years.
“All the achievements were done under Shevchenko” management, according to well-known Ukrainian journalist S.Lyamets, who specialised in banking issues, in a recent post regarding the Central banking nomination of the NBU, and the new head of the NBU, A.Pyshnyi, is now attempting to “privatise” his achievements. With his appointment, the National Bank of Ukraine has developed several new trends that are extremely distinct from those of the past. S.Lyamets stated that A. Pyshnyi began systematically removing specialists from the NBU personnel and replacing them with his old friends and associates. This is already a concerning indicator because it was the NBU team who successfully defended the nation’s banking system the previous year. Yet the current NBU leadership team is only renowned for one thing: turning the state-owned Oschchadbank that they previously oversaw into the largest loss-making bank, famous for its scandals with the media rather than for any banking reforms or advances.
Mr. Pyshnyi, who is he? His career in politics and finance has been littered with jump-offs and jump-ons. He initially worked as Arsen Yatseniuk’s business partner. Yatsenyuk and Pyshny both attended the same institution concurrently, and their dads were close friends. They met Igor Pluzhnikov, a close friend of infamous pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, through Pyshny’s father, and together they founded the social-democratic party that backed president Kuchma. He was the one who took advantage of the upcoming politicians and businesspeople. Young people “hung out” at commercial banks and in executive positions in state banks while the Social Democrats were in power. Arseniy Yatsenyuk was appointed interim head of the national bank by Pluzhnikov during the Orange Revolution, and Andriy Pyshny was promoted to acting chairman of the same Oschadbank from the role of deputy chairman of the board. He borrowed $3.5 million from his bank while he was in office and never paid it back. Nonetheless, Pyshnyi’s career rose following the Euromaidan alongside Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s.
After becoming prime minister, A. Yatseniuk selected him to lead the state-owned Oschchadbank. He was elected to the Oschadbank board immediately and afterwards became embroiled in a corruption scandal. The Office of the Prosecutor General began criminal procedures against him. Pyshnyi paid a big sum of money for a football ticket—500 000 hryvnia—to fly to a game. Investigators found that he had stolen from the Oschadbank. Then journalist Lyamets uncovered the Delta Bank case, where Pyshny was responsible for the theft of 3 billion UAH. Such controversies are common in Pyshny. Yet, he has social skills. Along with Yermak, his wife established a philanthropic organisation. He is currently in charge of the NBU.
With eight bodyguards, Pyshny made an unexpected first appearance at negotiations with foreign financial institutions in Poland. It’s odd that the chairman of the NBU need 8 security in Warsaw. But more significantly, he began producing money carelessly. S.Lyamets, a Ukrainian investigator, claims that Pyshnyi NBU’s emission has increased. The banking system shouldn’t be allowed to become unstable, according to Ukraine’s Western allies. Also, they ought to forbid the resurgence of outdated harmful habits that NBU eliminated over the previous ten years. Otherwise, the NBU can receive a drastically different nomination the following year.
